la gardenista

Sundaymorning in the fairy-tale garden of my friend Lammie. She knows like no other how to create a unique personal garden and the joy that it brings each season. A gardenista with great style!

As you walk through her garden, you will find surprising corners everywhere and in the middle of the garden there's a small greenhouse, hidden behind a rose bush.

This garden... (sigh) all the greens, so many colors, the different plants, trees, vegetables and flowers.

backyard vibes

Backyard vibes.

New 'kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate' baby plants on the bench. I love the name of the plant and it is a very fast-growing annual that self-seeds in the fall. Once you’ve planted it, you’re likely to have the flower in that spot for years to come. While the plant can grow up to two meters high, it rarely, if ever, needs to be staked. They are seedlings from the Villa Augustus garden, where they returned a bit too abundantly.

And we've finally found a convivial parasol to replace the ripped Shady Lace umbrella, which broke down last summer after 13 years.

This May has been so good so far...

We already had quiet some breakfasts, lunches and dinners in the backyard. It feels like summer.

picnic in the polder

vintique

Curiosities & coffee at Lammie's Saturday Shop on the marina quay in Dordrecht.

Lammie sells the best stuff from her treasure hunts from France. The pink (plant) table and zinc flower vase were irresistible and went with home us.

During the first weekends in June, Lammie and her friend Maria will organize a sales exhibition of their French finds. In Maria's large house at the Sarphatipark in Amsterdam, they use the ground floor and the whole upper floor for this exhibition and their friend/artist sets up all the rooms. This tradition is a great experience twice a year.

between the eucalyptus & ginkgo

Summer in May, at least that's how it feels in the garden lately.

We have a new evergreen in the backyard; an Eucalyptus Gunnii tree.

The small eucalyptus stands beside the ginkgo tree on the terrace. The new tree is an evergreen tree. The small round gray-green leaves give off a delicious eucalyptus smell. Especially when the leaf is bruised, a strong eucalyptus smell is released. Good thing is, mosquitoes hate this smell, so perfect for long summer evenings in the garden.

This afternoon we planted the new evergreen, a remembrance tree for Henk's mother, who passed away yesterday.

After gardening (we also repotted some plants and sowed flowers seeds) we had a tea between the trees and it felt special...

rock the boat

You can't have too many summer evenings in May...

golden bikini top

You can download the crochet BIKINI TOP PATTERN in my Etsy shop and start right away with the "step by step" crochet pattern, provided lots of detailed photos (18 pages) of this crochet bikini top.

All you need is 50 grams of yarn to make your summer bikini top! Choose your favorite colour and get started. It's not difficult at all and it takes just a few hours to make it.

The golden bikini top I made this afternoon with the beautiful bling bling yarn from Marrakech. It's a very simple straightforward variation on the bikini top.

1st domburg beach day 2018

Sunday at the beach in Domburg. The Dutch North Sea beaches are great, I sometimes just forget about it... Since we live in Dordrecht, we always choose one of the beaches in Zeeland.

We were about the first ones on the beach, except for a few fishermen on the shoreline. Incidentally it was nice and quiet on our beach, totally against my expectations.

The beach is always a lovely place "to play outside" during all seasons and especially during the summer months. When we used to live in The Hague, we went to the beach so often.
In spring and summer, we met after work on our favorite beach between Kijkduin and Scheveningen. At the end of the day, when almost everyone goes home again, it's wonderful on the beach. We used to bring our own picnic basket or ordered something on the beach and stayed until sunset.

Sunday we also stayed on the beach until sunset and we were about the last ones to leave the beach, to take full advantage of these summer days in May!

Ps: The bikini I made the day before, the bikini top is a variation on my crocheted bikini top pattern and the bottom is completely freestyle...